Moms speak up after restaurant bans public breastfeeding and kids below the age of 5

Moms have often been shamed for breastfeeding in public despite it being a natural process. Now a vegan restaurant in Indianapolis has banned public breastfeeding and kids below five years of age at their establishment. Plantastic Indy shared a notice on their Instagram regarding it, which has now been deleted. It read, "Dear Loyal customer, Gary and I have invested our life savings, careers, own health, and dreams on hold to accomplish a mission bigger than us. Fight climate change through food,” according to ScaryMommy.

They continued, “By the grace of God, we have this first and last brick and mortar at the Avenue, super elegant, clean, and neat place to make sure everyone that decides to come feels welcome in our inviting place. But sadly, we can no longer welcome toddlers, newborns, or anyone under 5 years old, will be allowed in order to keep up and maintain our sanitary standards.” They added, “I know many moms will get upset. Do not get upset at us, just at the ones that have come and left dirty diapers on the table and put their breast out in public uncovered to feed the child. That's not the Plantastic Indy experience we want for the rest of our customers.” It was posted on June 9, 2024. 

The post led to a social media uproar from moms and business owners. One of them being from a mother named Heather Dame. She posted a TikTok video in which she spoke about how it was a huge mistake by Plantastic Indy. She began by saying that she owns a vegan restaurant in Indiana and has a "very small vegan food scene." She goes on to say, "I woke up this morning to this Instagram post saying that they are now going to be banning anyone under the age of five to maintain their sanitary purposes. And they will no longer allow mothers to breastfeed in public in their restaurants. Excuse me, you're gonna break the law?” That is in reference to the Indianapolis law which states that a woman has the right to breastfeed anywhere in public.

Dame then talks about how her own vegan food business started because of vegan moms. She shared, "I was meeting up other moms in parking lots, giving them bags of lactation cookies and taking cash. I was a weird little cookie dealer around town." The mom then talks about how breastfeeding moms helped to build her business. "Do you know how many breastfeeding moms come up to my booth and they're like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can't have dairy or egg or I can't have soy because my little one is breastfeeding.’ And I'm like, ‘Hey, I got you covered,’” the woman recalled. She also added that she breastfed her kids for about 2.5 to 3 years. She concluded, “I am not against breastfeeding at all. And I will never tell a mother she needs to cover up. I will never say she can't bring her child into my restaurant.”

The video garnered 23k views on the social media platform. @slayathome_ commented, "Wait my jaw is on the floor. Sounds like an upkeep problem on their end rather than a child problem. This is sickening." @niamh_agali wrote, "This is wild to me, even as a woman who’s child-free by choice. Breastfeeding doesn’t violate any U.S. restaurant health codes and is legally protected. It’s not like you’re changing a diaper at a table." @alli_fresh expressed, "About to take my 5-year-old over there to breastfeed just to make everyone uncomfortable." @madison_alexander_ shared, "Bad call on their part! I think I’ve breastfed in just about every vegan restaurant in Nashville. They’re usually such accepting places."

Later, Plantastic Indy shared an Instagram video clarifying that they are not against breastfeeding moms but against "dirtiness." The owner said, "I want to eat in a place, in an establishment, that's clean, that maintains sanitary standards. Since when it's okay to put a poo on a table? Cause that's what a diaper is - it's poo. So, for most of you that have never been here, I will show you." She then panned the camera to show the restaurant's size and stated, “This is all we got -10 tables. And they're next to each other, and most of the time, the few of you that have come here, see me with a hairnet. Why? Cause I go in and out of the kitchen, most of the time I'm cooking, I'm cleaning, doing whatever it takes. So again, we are not against breastfeeding for God's sake! I'm against dirtiness.”

You can follow Heather (@vegan_hoosier) on TikTok for more lifestyle and food content.